Diondre Wallace and Chris Tedder are teammates, classmates, roommates — and competitors.
Both entered their freshman years vying for time as inside linebackers in the Towson football team's 3-4 defensive alignment. That might have been awkward for two guys who live together at home and on the road, but the duo eventually grew to appreciate each other's presence on the depth chart.
"If we compete with each other, we make each other better," said Wallace, a Baltimore resident and Arundel graduate. "That's how it is."
Added Tedder: "We're definitely competitors, but I feed off him every time he makes a good play because that makes me want to make a play. We're trying to make each other better every day, and that's what I love about him."
In the end, Tedder and Wallace got the opportunities they coveted. The pair started the final six games of last season for the Tigers, impressing teammates, coaches and observers with their poise and play as rookies.
Now as incumbents, the sophomores are expected to anchor the interior of a defense that ranked fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association in 2015 in points and yards allowed per game.
"I always worry about the sophomore slump for every freshman that ever plays, but with these kids' work ethic in the offseason, I don't even think about it," coach Rob Ambrose said of Wallace and Tedder. "A sophomore slump is [a player thinking,] 'I got it.' Instead of saying, 'I got it,' they're like, 'I've got to get better.'"
In some ways, the 6-foot, 215-pound Tedder and the 6-0, 249-pound Wallace mirror one another. The lack of what some coaches would call prototypical size for an inside linebacker may have played a role in programs on the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision overlooking them. And the pair agreed that the transition from high school to college – especially on academic and social levels — required a considerable amount of adjustment.
Their differences are evident on the football field, according to inside linebackers coach Matt Hachmann.
"I think Diondre is a bigger, a little more powerful, a little more explosive football player," said Hachmann, also the team's defensive coordinator. "When Diondre hits you, you really feel it. He is a very physical player. Chris is a very instinctual football player. Chris does things naturally well. Chris does things naturally right without us having to coach him too much. So in that regard, I think they're different."
Despite their relative inexperience on the Football Championship Subdivision level, Tedder and Wallace practiced well enough to back up starters Malik Jackson and Eric Handy (Wilde Lake). And after five games, they started at Stony Brook on Oct. 17.
"I wasn't nervous because we were prepared," Wallace recalled. "We were prepared because we practice. If I take reps off because I'm a two or a three, I'm not getting the guy in front of me better. So we all prepare the same. Anything can happen in a game. Anything can happen at any moment in time, and you've got to be ready. The way we prepare and practice sets up everybody to be successful."
Tedder described his mindset as, "Step up. It's your time. The rest of the guys expect nothing less from you. Just ball and be there for your teammates."
Wallace finished with 45 tackles to rank sixth on Towson and added a sack, a recovered fumble and a forced fumble. Tedder had an even more impressive run, registering 55 stops (to rank fourth), a sack and an interception. He was the first player in program history to be named the CAA's Co-Defensive Rookie of the Year.
But rather than rest on those laurels, Tedder and Wallace have worked extensively on honing their abilities, according to Hachmann.
"I think they're a lot more comfortable in their roles," he said. "Last year, they came in and didn't know what to expect. Here, the expectations are high for them, and they've been able to handle that pretty well. They had to come in, be the starters, provide a little bit of leadership, anchor the defense to some degree, and that's not always easy. When you come in as a freshman, you don't really know what to expect and you're just going. When the expectations are laid out for you, it's hard to live up to them. But I think they've both been able to live up to them and they've been able to succeed."
With six starters gone from last year's defense, the spotlight is on Tedder and Wallace to help mold the unit prior to Saturday's season opener at South Florida. But Wallace said he and Tedder have no trepidation about that task.
"There's not a lot of pressure because we have a lot of leadership around us," he said. "We know we're not going to do it by ourselves. We know that when we step out here, there are nine other guys that are going to step out with us. So there's no pressure. If everybody does their job and we stay together as a brotherhood, life's easy."
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Towson University
Coach: Rob Ambrose (Eighth season, 43-41)
2015 record: 7-4 overall (5-3 in the CAA)
Expected finish: Ninth in CAA preseason poll
2016 schedule
Sept. 3, at South Florida, 7 p.m.
Sept. 10, St. Francis, 6 p.m.
Sept. 17, at Villanova, 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 1, at Richmond, 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 8, Stony Brook, 7 p.m.
Oct. 15, at Dartmouth, 1:30 p.m.
Oct. 22, New Hampshire, 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 29, at Delaware, 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 5, Elon, 2 p.m.
Nov. 12, William & Mary, noon
Nov. 19, at Rhode Island, noon